Azimut Magellano 53 Review, Test Data and Buying Advice

The Azimut Magellano 53 is built for weeks, not weekends

Alan Harper summed up the Azimut Magellano 53 in Power and Motoryacht as a boat for cruisers who want to point the bow at the horizon and keep going, la vita in crociera rather than la dolce vita. It made its public debut at the Cannes boat show in September 2013 as the replacement for the Magellano 50, the middle model of a range that then also included the 43 and the 76.

That mission explains almost every decision aboard: smaller engines than a planing 55-footer would carry, a large fuel tank, only three guest cabins so each has room, and an unusual amount of storage. If you are looking for a Magellano 53 for sale, you are buying a long-distance cruiser that happens to be able to run at 20 knots, not a sport yacht that happens to have range.

What two extra feet over the Magellano 50 bought

Azimut stretched the hull by about two feet compared with the 50. Most of the gain went to the stern: room for an optional crew cabin aft, a bigger cockpit with a bar, more sole space and a larger table, and a bigger hydraulic swim platform able to lift a tender of the Williams 320 class, about 880 pounds. MBY's launch preview called the result a 13 square meter terrace cockpit.

Up front, the boat keeps the Magellano look drawn by Cor D. Rover: a near-vertical bow, high topsides and bulwarks, and a superstructure tall enough that Harper noted how upright the 53 feels from the upper helm. That height pays off in headroom of 6 feet 5 inches to 6 feet 10 inches below.

The 2,100-mile number, in context

Power and Motoryacht's April 2014 test, run off Cannes in 1 to 2 foot seas with 395 gallons of fuel and six people aboard, produced a remarkable low-speed figure: 6.6 knots at 900 rpm on 2.38 gallons per hour, for a calculated range of 2,108 nautical miles. At 8.1 knots range was still 1,065 miles. Top speed was 23.9 knots at 2,350 rpm, burning 50.8 gph.

The more useful lesson is in the middle of the table. From about 12 knots upward, speed and fuel climb in near lockstep, so range barely changes between 15.6 knots (375 miles) and 23.9 knots (358 miles). Harper put it plainly: there is no discernible planing hump, and you can pick whatever speed is comfortable. He suggested 10 knots as a practical passage speed with about 500 miles of range, and noted that pushing to 20 knots still leaves roughly 370.

500 hp Cummins, chosen on purpose

Standard and only power was a pair of 500 hp Cummins QSC 8.3 diesels through ZF 286 IV gearboxes at 2.539 to 1, on shafts. Harper contrasted that with the 32-knot Azimut 54 flybridge of the time, which carried twin 725 hp Volvos. Azimut fitted smaller engines and a bigger tank instead, a bit of expectation management for owners who value range over speed.

The QSC 8.3 is a well-known, widely supported engine in the US, which helps any owner who plans to cruise beyond major yacht centers. A 15.5 kW Kohler generator and 60,000 BTU of Condaria air conditioning completed the test boat's machinery.

• LOA 55 feet 5 inches, beam 15 feet 3 inches, draft 4 feet 9 inches
• Displacement 63,051 pounds at full load
• Fuel 845 gallons, water 185 gallons
• 2 x Cummins QSC 8.3, 500 hp each; 23.9 knots top in PMY's test

Below decks, master amidships and a room just for gear

The full-beam master is amidships with a diagonally set queen berth, circular hull windows, opening ports and its own head and shower. The VIP is forward with en suite access to a head on the starboard side that also serves the third cabin. At 6 feet 2 inches, the VIP double may feel short to tall guests, and the twin cabin is small, best treated as a place to sleep.

What sets the 53 apart is storage. Off the lower lobby there is a dedicated locker for a washing machine, a linen cupboard outside the master, and an entire cabin-sized utility room to starboard fitted with lockers and shelves. Harper joked that it only needs a mattress on the top shelf to become a seventh berth, and some boats appear in tours with that space presented as a fourth cabin, so confirm how a particular boat is set up.

Living spaces that work underway

The main deck puts the lower helm to starboard and a raised U-shaped dinette to port, so the helmsman stays part of the conversation and everyone at the table has a view out. The galley is aft, next to a three-part cockpit door that slides fully open to join the saloon and cockpit. The flybridge copies the layout, helm to starboard and U-shaped settee to port, and there is more seating on the foredeck.

Harper described the decor as sober and traditional, with walnut veneers, beige fabric linings and cream carpet, plus sturdy stainless handrails throughout and small touches like a leather-strapped locker in the VIP. Coming back into Cannes at 15 knots, he wrote that engine noise was a murmur and the motion steady enough that he could happily have kept going for another couple of hundred miles.

Magellano 53 for sale, options and what came next

Used boats are scarce. YachtBuyer found only one boat for sale in 2026, a 2015 hull at $727,000, with newer examples starting around 1.18 million euros in Europe, and four boats listed in three years, mostly in the western Mediterranean and on the US East Coast, selling in about 151 days on average. On a used boat, the options that matter most are the Seakeeper gyro (a $125,550 extra in 2014), the crew cabin, a painted hull and upgraded electronics.

YachtBuyer dates the end of production to 2022. Azimut's current Magellano range starts with the Magellano 60, so a new-boat buyer who likes the concept now has to go bigger. Plan on $100,000 to $170,000 a year in running costs for an owner-operator, depending on slip location, how far you cruise and whether you hire a captain for deliveries.